Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center - NMU Events and Announcements

Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center

To celebrate Women’s History Month and the great accomplishments of women across the region, the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center is opening the exhibition, “Extraordinary Women of the U.P.,” on Saturday, March 23 at 1 p.m. The event will take place in the Center’s gallery in Gries Hall on the campus of Northern Michigan University and is free and open to the public. 

The exhibition will be on display through August 3 and then will begin touring the Upper Peninsula in the fall of 2024. It is funded in part by a grant from the Michigan Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

“Extraordinary Women of the U.P.” will feature the stories of no less than 60 women who made an impact in many different categories including the arts, education, politics, medicine, activism, and public service. Many were born and raised in the Upper Peninsula and others came to the region later in life, but they all share in common great accomplishments in their careers, volunteerism, and community service. Some of the women went on to have careers that have had an impact on the nation and even the world where others stayed in their hometowns and made them better communities for everyone. 

Much of the research for the exhibition was conducted by students of Dr. Emily Romeo’s women’s history course in the fall of 2023 at Northern Michigan University. Nominees were also submitted by local historical societies and private individuals.  The final list was determined by a committee consisting of: Lisa Cromell, director of the Munising School Public Library; Kathleen Long, director of the Iron County Historical Museum; Elise Nelson, director of the Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw; Dr. Emily Romeo, assistant professor of history, Northern Michigan University; Daniel Truckey, director/curator of the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center.

A short list of some of the individuals featured in the exhibition includes the pioneering accordionist Viola Turpeinen, the Anishinaabe poetess Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, medical researcher Kathleen Shingler Weston, politician Connie Berube Binsfeld, labor organizer Annie Clemenc, and many more iconic figures who have made the world a better place. Where many of the women are household names in the U.P., the community had some amazing discoveries of some lesser-known yet fantastic women, such as the civil rights activist and suffragette Blanche Williams Stubbs, daredevil wing/walker Sarah Kalishek, to an early disability advocate and publisher Nettie Steffenson Thorborg.

Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center

On Friday, February 16th, the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center will be opening "Extracting History: Mining and Marquette County." This photography exhibition showcases contemporary photography by local artist Lexie Belles, historic images from Jack Deo's collection, and artifacts from the Cliff Shaft Mine Museum.

The exhibition's grand opening starts at 5:30 PM, welcoming all with hors d'oeuvres. 

"Extracting History: Mining and Marquette County" warmly invites the public to immerse themselves in this enlightening experience, running until March 1st, 2024. Visitors can explore the exhibition from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Monday through Friday), until 8 p.m. on Thursdays and 12 to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.  It is free and open to the public.

The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center is located at the intersection of 7th Street and Tracy Ave on Northern Michigan University's campus. For further details, please contact us at 906-227-1219. 

Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center

By popular demand, the Beaumier Heritage Concert Series will be bringing the Scottish folk-rock group, Skerryvore, back to Northern Michigan University. Skerryvore will be playing Thursday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Forest Roberts Theatre. This concert is also part of the annual Winter Roots Festival, which is co-sponsored by the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center, Hiawatha Traditional Music Festival, and the Ore Dock Brewing Company. Tickets for the concert are available at the Berry Center ticket office or online at nmu.universitytickets.com. 

Ticket prices: General Public - $20 advance/$22 door; NMU Students and under 18 - $10 advance/$12 door. 

What is Skerryvore? They’re like no one else. Epic of melody, intimate of feeling, and plugged into the roots of Scotland but blasting out to the world. 

Three-time winners of Scotland’s ‘Live Act of the Year’ award, Skerryvore have evolved from their humble beginnings to become one of the country’s leading forces in a thriving live music scene. At the forefront of a movement that has reinvented and reignited a traditional Scottish scene for a modern, multicultural audience, the band has brought their high-energy performances to audiences across the globe. From their early days in Scottish West Coast halls and bars to festival crowds in the USA, Canada, Australia, and throughout the UK and Europe, Skerryvore’s wide range of influences and talent produce a musically expansive, immersive yet intimate set that excites and captivates audiences.

With a mix of bagpipes, fiddles, accordions, and whistles, alongside guitar and vocals, underpinned by driving bass, drums, and keys, Skerryvore represents the best in contemporary Scottish traditional music. Their now 7 studio albums demonstrate the wide range of influences the individual musicians bring to the mix – a unique fusion of folk, trad, pop, and rock.

Three singles from the latest album ‘Tempus’, released in April 2023, all featured on the BBC Radio 2 new music playlist, and the album went to number 1 in both the Official Scottish Album and UK Folk Albums charts and entered the top 40 in the Official UK Charts. Skerryvore took their Tempus Tour to audiences across the UK, Europe, and the USA, with their unique fusion appealing to a wider mix of age groups and tastes.

“Skerryvore have crafted a world beating fusion, which takes pride in their heritage and above all else is a pure joy to listen to.” – Folk Radio UK 

“The highest rated show we have ever had on our post-concert surveys… people LOVED the show.” – Anchorage Concert Association, ALASKA 

“Such a fresh, real, new sound… I love it” – Jeremy Vine, BBC Radio 2 UK 

“Skerryvore has evolved to become one of Scotland’s greatest musical exports.” – Wickham Festival, ENGLAND 

Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center

For the 23rd year in a row, Northern Michigan University will present its annual Sonderegger Symposium on campus. Sponsored by a donation from the Sonderegger family, the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center and Center for U.P. Studies, the symposium will take place on Friday, November 10 from 8 a.m. to 5 pm. Sessions will be held in the Northern Center ballrooms and a lunch will be provided. Admission is free and open to the public.

You can view the schedule of the presentations and the event here.

The theme of this year’s symposium is “Perspectives on 1820 and Beyond.” All of the sessions will be related to the Beaumier Center’s current exhibit, “Claiming Michigan: the 1820 Expedition of Lewis Cass.” The sessions will not only discuss the expedition and the peoples involved in the journey but also look at the long-term impacts of the expedition on the formation of the State of Michigan and the United States. 

This year’s keynote address will be given by Bryan Newland, the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs. Newland is a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community (Ojibwe), where he recently completed his tenure as Tribal President. Prior to that, Bryan served as Chief Judge of the Bay Mills Tribal Court. From 2009 to 2012, he served as a Counselor and Policy Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior – Indian Affairs. He is a graduate of Michigan State University and the Michigan State University College of Law. 

Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center

For over 30 years, public arts advocate and organizer Mary Biekkola Wright led art projects in communities across the Upper Peninsula. To commemorate her life and legacy, the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center is hosting the event, “Hats Off to Mary: a Mary Wright Reunion,” on July 8, at 2 p.m. It will be held at the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center in Gries Hall on the campus of Northern Michigan University.  Admission is free to the public and there will be snacks and light beverages served.

The Center encourages anyone who was involved in one of Mary Wright’s projects or were friends of Mary to attend this event to celebrate her life and impact on the communities of the Upper Peninsula. In addition, attendees will be able to view the Beaumier Center’s current exhibition, “Mary Biekkola Wright: A Retrospective 1986-2011.” This exhibit features dozens of artifacts from the public art projects Mary led plus photographs and information on the different projects. 

In addition to the refreshments, the event will feature speakers, a video sharing booth, music, and lots of great memories and comradery. Attendees are encouraged to wear hats in honor of Mary’s love of headwear. 

Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center

The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center announces the schedule for Sonderegger 22, which will be held on Friday, November 4. This year’s symposium will be held in Northern Center Ballroom III. There will be a free lunch for attendees. In addition, at lunch the Beaumier Center will present the 2022 U.P. Folklife Awards.

This year’s theme is “Heritage Preservation and Tourism,” with nine presentations. The keynote will be delivered by Donavan Rypkema, Principal, PlaceEconomics in Washington D.C. In his address he will discuss how heritage tourism can have substantial economic benefits for local communities. But for heritage tourism to be sustainable over the long term, certain principles need to be followed. This session will discuss those principles and also share recent heritage tourism findings from US cities.

If you are not able to attend Sondregger 22 in person, you will be able to stream it live at this link, https://tinyurl.com/NMUAVStreaming.

Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center

You are cordially invited to the public launch of a new website "Maamawi Ozhigi/Together We Grow" created by the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center and funded by a donation from NMU professor emeritus, Dr. Jon Saari (History). The event will be held in Ballroom I of the Northern Center at 4 p.m. on Thursday, August 18. Light refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be served. No R.S.V.P is necessary.

This website is dedicated to the symbiotic relationship between the Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan University. The two live close together but not always in harmony. For this reason, we’ve used the Anishinaabemowin term “Maamawi Ozhigi” which translated into English means “Together We Grow.” This title expresses our aspiration for our lives in this common place. The articles within will look at how the people of the Upper Peninsula have helped define the university and vice versa. The articles have been written by NMU alumni, students, faculty and staff members. They incorporate not only the history of the region and university but the stories from members of the NMU community about their experiences at the university and in the U.P.

Because the relationship between the region and its people is always changing, and because there are so many stories to tell, this website will continually change and expand as well. There are three main sections to the site. The first, "What is the Upper Peninsula" looks at the history of the region and the university itself. The second, "The University for Everyone," looks specifically at the connections between NMU and the region. The third, "Living in the Upper Peninsula," is still being developed and will include opportunities for students, alumni and staff to interact through blogs related to the region's way of life. 

Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center

This spring and summer, dazzle your eyes with a new exhibition at the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center. The display “UP3D” will feature 60 large three-dimensional images from the stereograph collection of collector Jack Deo of Marquette.  The exhibition will be open from April 23 to August 27 in the Beaumier Center’s gallery at the corner of Seventh Street and Tracy Ave. Admission is free and open to the public. This is an expanded version of an exhibition the Center mounted in 2011.

All of the images in this display are early stereograph images from the late 19th century taken in communities and locations around the Upper Peninsula by some of the region’s best-known photographers. They feature mining and other industrial operations, cityscapes, fires, Native Americans and slices of life from the 1860s to the 1890s. Communities featured will be Ironwood, Sault Ste. Marie, Houghton, Marquette, Escanaba and many others.

The exhibition will also include stereographic cameras, viewers and equipment on loan from Don Balmer of Marquette and Jack Deo. These will include vintage ViewMaster viewers and cameras from the 1940s through the 1990s. In addition, there will be stereograph cameras and equipment from the late 19th and early 20th century on display.

The concept that you can use two slightly off drawings to create a three-dimensional effect is older than photography itself. With the advent of photography in the late 1830s and early 1840s, the idea of using early photographs to create 3D images was embraced quickly. Overtime, a whole industry in three dimensional images on cards and slides developed and photography studios around the globe sold them as souvenirs or as volumes. Photography studios around the U.P. started doing this as early as the 1860s, and these images became a popular way to promote the region’s unique natural surroundings.

Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center

Across the nation, the influence of Critical Race Theory on how history is studied and taught in our educational systems has become hot button political issue. But what exactly is CRT and why has there been so much backlash against it? The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center is hosting a forum to discuss these two questions and other issues concerning CRT featuring four Northern Michigan University faculty members. The CRT Forum will take place on Thursday, February 17 at 7:30 p.m. in Jamrich Hall 1100. Due to Covid-19 regulations, the audience will be limited to 100 members and all attendees will be required to wear KN-95, N-95 or KF-95 masks during the event. The event will also be streaming live on Zoom.

https://nmu.zoom.us/j/92907826062?pwd=UktqR2xGSHJwNHBRcU5LSmZlbVk0QT09
Passcode: 294976

The four faculty members participating in the forum are as follows:

Dr. Lesley Larkin, professor, English

Dr. Meghan McCune, assistant professor, Anthropology

Dr. Allan Willis, department head and professor, History

Dr. Carter Wilson, department head and professor, Political Science

Moderator: Daniel Truckey, Director/Curator, Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center

Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center

The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center is proud to present a concert by the Scottish folk-rock group, Skerryvore, on Saturday, March 19 at 7:30 p.m.  The concert will be held in Forest Roberts Theatre on the campus of Northern Michigan University. This concert is part of the 2022 Winter Roots Festival. Tickets for the concert can be purchase online at nmu.universitytickets.com or at Forest Roberts Theatre, NMU Bookstore or the Berry Events Center. Ticket costs are as follows: General Public - $15 advance/$17 door; NMU Students and under 18 - $10 advance/$12 door.

Hailing from the island of Tiree, Skerryvore formed in 2005; their music is an eclectic fusion of rock, pop and traditional music with an emphatic thundering of drums and bagpipes and is as rich as a single malt scotch. With their outstanding musicianship and the mesmerizing voice of award-winning Dalglish, Skerryvore has become an international sensation.  In addition to Dalglish on lead vocals and guitar, the band includes brothers Daniel Gillespie (accordion) and Martin Gillespie (bagpipes, whistles & accordions), Fraser West (drums & vocals), Craig Espie (fiddles), Alan Scobie (keyboards), Jodie Bremaneson (bass) and Scott Wood (bagpipes).  The band took their unique name after the lighthouse that sits on a remote reef of the same name off of Tiree; it is the tallest in Scotland.  The name is pronounced Sker-ee-vore.

Skerryvore is twice winners of Scotland’s Traditional Music Awards coveted “Live Act of the Year” (2011 and 2016). They have performed in over 25 countries and are very popular in the Middle East, China, UK and the U.S., where they have performed in over 30 states.

Skerryvore is touring behind their 7th album, Evo (June 2018), which is all original tunes plus one cover song, runs the gauntlet from big blast numbers to heartfelt reflective tracks. The band’s first 6 albums have sold over 60,000 physical CDs and well over 5 million streams. 

For more information on Skerryvore please visit, skerryvore.com. For more info on the concert, and the Beaumier Center, please visit nmu.edu/beaumier or call 906-227-3212.